The concept of protective coverings or bandages for a wound to promote healing of a wound is well known in the art. Typically, most open skin wounds require both protection from the environment and exposure to the atmosphere. It has been generally found that a porous wound covering that breaths or lets air into the wound either through the bandage covering the wound or through openings along the side of the bandage is useful to facilitate the healing process. In order to keep contaminants such as moisture and dirt out of the wound and still promote healing of the wound the bandage is breathable and is made from a gas permeable and water impermeable material.
The use of water impermeable materials in prior art bandages allows the user to shower or bathe without having the bandage fall off, however, such bandages do not prevent contaminates from contacting the wound while the user showers or bathes.
Still other prior art bandages may be made of materials that are gas impermeable or liquid impermeable, however, such bandages are constructed to only partially shield a wound since they typically have side openings to allow air to enter the wound. Thus while the bandages material is gas impermeable or liquid impermeable the bandage when placed on the wound permits the wound to breath.
In addition there is another class of bandages that are occlusive and have some type of gel or liquid absorbing material such as hydrocolloids. Typically these occlusive bandage are used on hospital or nursing home patients that have pressure sores or dermal ulcers from continual confinement in a bed. Under such conditions it is best to keep the wound moist to promote healing. One such bandage is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,257. The occlusive wound dressing uses a water absorbable material that maintains the wound under moist conditions by preventing outward migration of the wound exudate. A tackifier polymer is used to adhere the wound dressing directly to the wound and the skin. Even in this application it is preferred to have the backing material porous or air permeable to allow excretions to evaporate into the air thus prolonging the liquid absorbing capacity of the dressing.
Unfortunately, in certain situations the prior art bandages provide inadequate protection for the user to safely engage in a physical activity. For example, if a user wants to participate in a physical activity for a few hours in the direct presence of contaminates in a typical room temperature environment of 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit the prior art bandages provide inadequate protection since they also allow contaminates to enter the wound site through the air passages created by vent holes in the bandage backing and imperfect sealing around the periphery of the bandages. If contaminates enter the wound area it can cause infection in the open wound and thus prolong the healing period. Consequently, such prior art bandages while providing limited wound protection do not allow a person to engage in physical activities in the direct presence of contaminants without increasing the risk of infection. For example, if a user needs to come in direct contact with chemically treated water containing alcohols or cleaning agents that are being vaporized into the atmosphere the person needs to protect or isolate the wound from direct contact with either the water or the harmful vapors. Conversely, if the user needs to temporarily work in an environment where the liquid and gas excretions from the wound may be harmful to another person the user needs to isolate and temporarily prevent the liquid and gas excretions of the wound from escaping from the bandage area. In both situations it would be desirable if one could isolate the contaminates on one side of the dressing, however, the care and treatment of wounds usually requires that the bandages allow air to contact the wound to expedite the healing.
Typically, the prior art solution for contamination of a bandage and a wound during a physical activity is to replace the bandage with a fresh bandage after the user completes the physical activity in the harmful environment. However, replacing the bandage does not prevent contaminates from entering the wound during the physical activity.
The present invention in contrast to the prior art bandages is not considered a bandage that one would place on a wound to provide long term protection of the wound during the healing process. In contradistinction the present invention is a temporary wound patch that provides a dynamic wound and bandage covering that flexes with the skin movement and does not stick to the underlying protective bandage or wound. The patch is made from a nonbreathable material that can be applied over the wound for a period of a few hours to totally isolate the wound from the environment while the person engages in a physical activity. That is, the present invention permits a user to provide a room temperature wound patch that temporarily encapsulates and seals around the wound or around a bandage located over the wound with a protective patch that is both air and liquid impermeable to isolate the wound and prevent the wound from being contaminated during the physical activity of the user. The patch is made of a material that flexes and dynamically conforms to the movement of the body. The central region of the patch contains a non-stick region that allows the patch to move without pulling on or disturbing the wound. After the user completes the physical activity the user removes the wound patch. Thus the present invention allows a wound to be protected by a patch that is both gas and liquid impermeable for up to a few hours. Since the patch only covers the wound for a short period of time and the patch has a non-stick island it does not adversely affect the healing process and thus eliminates the setbacks in healing caused by having contaminants infect the wound.